Beasts Within (5 page)

             
Either the beeping of the microwave or the smell of warm noodles and chicken was enough to wake her, and when Karic came back into the living room, carrying two bowls of General Tso's over chow mein, he was surprised to see amber eyes trained on him.

             
“Oh,” he said, and then rolled his eyes at how very stupid that sounded. “I mean, hi. It's good to see you're awake. Do you remember me?”

             
She hesitated and then nodded. “This is your house?”

             
“Yeah. I didn't know where you were going, and since you passed out and I wasn't about to leave you on the side of the road to be found by some crazy stranger, it seemed like the best thing to just bring you here.”

             
“Thank you,” she said softly, wincing as she went to sit up. “Fuck, what an awful night.”

             
“Coulda been worse,” Karic pointed out. “You could have drowned.”

             
She shot him a pointed look. “I feel like I did.”

             
His cheeks colored as he realized that she was still soaking wet and he hadn't offered to do anything about that yet. “Right. God, I'm sorry. It's late, and I was at work forever, so my brain isn't…right. Um…” What was the
matter
with him? He dealt with people all day and didn't get flustered like this, but he was just going to chalk it up to exhaustion. Not to say that she wasn't pretty because she was. Her dark hair was curling around her face where it had escaped from the bun, and in the light of the living room, Karic could see that she had creamy skin and a smattering of freckles that went across her nose and cheeks. She looked so young, and the compulsion to ask her what she was running from was strong. Instead he got himself together and focused on the matter at hand. “I'll show you to the bathroom. You can have a shower and get the river water off, and I'll set some of my things out for you to wear.”

             
“They…might not fit,” she offered, wrinkling her nose.

             
Karic grinned. “No, I've got just the thing. C'mon.” He set the food down on the coffee table and watched as she got up from the couch, making a face when she stumbled, favoring her right leg. “Your ankle?”

             
“Yeah, I really think I messed it up when I slipped into the river.”

             
“Well, let's work on getting you dry, and then I'll take a look at it, okay? For now…” He went over and offered her his arm, bracing her as they made their way up the stairs. “I'm Karic, by the way. I don't know if you remember me mentioning that.”

             
She nodded. “I do. I'm…Camilla. I…thank you. For not just leaving me there on the side of the road. And for being so nice to some girl you don't know.”

             
Karic shrugged. “It's no problem, really. Apparently I've got a white-knight complex, and I can't say no to a damsel in distress. Or anything in distress, really.”

             
“That's not a bad quality to have,” Camilla pointed out.

             
“Yeah, well. It's gotten me into trouble sometimes.” He flipped the light on in the bathroom and stepped back from her. “Can you manage from here, do you think?”

             
Camilla nodded, looking around. “I think so. If you hear something crash, then it's me, falling over.”

             
“I'll be sure to come save you before you drown in the shower,” Karic said with an easy smile. “You go ahead and get in. I'll leave some clothes outside the door. Feel free to use anything you find in there, too. There'll be some food waiting when you get out.” From the way Camilla's stomach growled at that, she approved.

             
“Thank you. Really,” she said again, meeting his eyes.

             
“You're welcome. Really. Just holler if you need something.” And he went into his room, leaving her to it while he hunted down clothes for her.

Karic awoke to the smell of food cooking, and he frowned in confusion. He was the only one who lived here, and his cooking skills were mediocre at best, so he mostly lived on take out and things that could be microwaved. Certainly he'd never been woken up on a Wednesday morning to the smell of—he inhaled deeply—bacon and blueberries? What the hell was going on?

              It took several minutes for his brain to wake up enough to catch up to his body, and memories of the night before came flooding back to him in a rush. Finding Camilla on the side of the road, bringing her home. It was perfectly plausible that she was the one in his kitchen making food that smelled like heaven and made his mouth water. He couldn't even be upset at the thought of her going through his refrigerator and cabinets to find things to make, especially when he looked at the clock at his bedside and realized it was closing in on noon. He had really not meant to sleep that late, but he'd been worn out from his shift and everything that had happened after, so it made sense that he had slept in.

             
When the smell proved to be just too intoxicating to ignore, he hauled himself out of bed, pulling a pair of sweatpants on over his boxers before he headed down the stairs, scratching at his head. “Wow, it smells amazing in here,” he said as he walked into the kitchen, and he had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing when Camilla jumped, startled. “Sorry,” he said quickly once she had turned to look at him. “I thought you would have heard me coming.”

             
She gave him a small smile. “I was…kind of in the zone, I guess. It's been a while since I cooked anything.”

             
He wouldn't have known if she hadn't told him because the way she moved, flipping and plating and garnishing, it seemed like she had been doing this forever. “Wow,” Karic breathed. “I don't think my kitchen's been used like this in all the time I've had it. Are you sure you're not a professional?” He hadn’t seen anyone cook like this since he was a little kid, sitting at the kitchen table and watching his mother make breakfast for the family.

             
Camilla's cheeks went a fetching shade of pink at the compliment, but she shook her head quickly. “I'm sure. I…they used to have me cook a lot…back home. But then someone else joined the pride that was better at it, and…” she trailed off, and Karic didn't push her to finish the sentence. It was obvious that she had real issues and bad experiences where her pride was concerned, and he didn't want to repay her for making him breakfast (or was it brunch at this point?) by making her sad.

             
“Well, it looks awesome,” he said firmly. “Can I do anything to help? I feel kinda useless standing in my own kitchen doing nothing.”

             
He was relieved when that got her to smile. “You could set the table? And pour juice? I'm going to have my hands full in a minute getting all this to the table.”

             
“Can do,” Karic replied with a wink and went to it, getting down more plates and glasses and bringing everything over to the table.

             
Camilla brought the food over, setting it in the middle of the table, and they both sat down to dig in.

             
Breakfast was a mostly quiet affair, and Karic would have asked Camilla if she was alright if not for the fact that she was on the run, so clearly not alright. Also the food was just too good to ruin by talking. She had prepared fluffy blueberry pancakes with a massive pile of perfectly done bacon on the side, and there had even been syrup and jam left in his fridge to make the breakfast perfect. Usually he just had coffee and grabbed a doughnut or something to have with it, and he honestly didn't think he had ever sat at the table like this and had breakfast. It was actually really nice. Having company was nice. Karic had gotten so used to being alone that he didn't even notice how quiet his house was when it was just him, but the warmth and easiness of Camilla's company made him think.

             
“So…” he said as he was helping himself to a fourth pancake from the stack in the middle of the table. “Do you think you'll try to head out today?”

             
She glanced up at him, amber eyes anxious. “Am I in the way? I'm sorry. I was definitely planning on leaving today. I have to, really, so it's fine.”

             
Karic held up a hand, cringing at the way he had worded that. “No! I mean, no. You're not in the way. You can stay as long as you'd like, really. I was just curious. I have to go into work later, and you're more than welcome to stay here or come with me and hang out in the office. The nurses are nice to talk to and they might be able to point you in the right direction of somewhere safe to go. I mean, if you want. It's up to you, obviously.” Fuck. There was a very good reason why all the women he talked to were either sick or middle aged.
They
found him charming. Otherwise he was just nervous and tripped over his words.

             
“I…” Camilla licked a bit of syrup from her fingers and seemed to think about it. In Karic's mind there were plenty of reasons for her to stay. Her things were probably still wet; she didn't seem to have much of a plan beyond just getting away, not to mention she still had a sprained ankle. But he could imagine that her reasons for leaving seemed much bigger than any of that. “You really wouldn't mind?” she asked finally.

             
“I really wouldn't. It's nice to have company, and I can't cook for shit, so maybe it's a little selfish. But either way, we can get your ankle looked at and get your clothes and stuff dried off so you'll be in better shape when you do leave.”

             
That seemed to cheer her up, and when she smiled at him, Karic couldn't help but smile back. He didn't know what it was about her, but there was definitely some kind of draw there, and it was more than just because she was pretty.

             
An hour later and Karic was doing the dishes and all of Camilla’s wet things were in the dryer. Every few minutes her eyes would shift to a window, and he knew that she was concerned and worried that the rest of her pride was going to show up. He didn’t know if it would help if he told her that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her (after all, it was just him, and he didn’t know what use he could be against a whole pride of lion shifters), but he felt the need to keep her safe. It had always pained him to see someone in trouble, and from the fear lurking in those otherwise bright eyes, Karic could tell that nothing good would happen if the pride got Camilla back.

             
“What time do you have to go to the office?” Camilla asked from the living room, pitching her voice just loud enough to be heard.

             
“Not for another few hours. I’m on the late shift tonight. But if you come in with me, I can bring you back here on my break.”

             
“N-no. I…I’d rather stay with you, if that’s alright.”

             
He could understand that. Being left alone in a strange place didn’t sound particularly appealing to him either. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’m sure Allie and the others will find something to keep you entertained.”

             
“Thank you.”

             
It was funny how different Camilla could be from moment to moment. Sometimes she seemed to be more snarky and a bit sarcastic, but as soon as something troublesome got brought up, she seemed to retreat into herself. Karic found himself wondering what she would be like if she didn’t have to be afraid. Probably bright, funny, those full lips quirking in a smile at some joke she had made. He bet that she would be a joy to be around, and his heart went out to her that she had to live her life in fear.

             
Mentally he scolded himself for thinking like that about someone he barely knew. It was things like that that made people call him a bleeding heart and had gotten him taken advantage of. He fell for every sob story in the book, and it had only led him to trouble before. But somehow he could tell that if was different with Camilla. The fear in her eyes, the quiver in her voice…all of that was real. Karic knew enough about fear to know that.

             
“Is there anyone you’d like to call?” he asked, wiping his hands on a dish cloth and cleaning the counters with it. “Your family maybe? A friend?” It was probably a dumb question, and the silence that followed it told him he was right. If she’d had someone to call, she probably would have done it already and not been in this predicament. Why did he even open his mouth?

             
“I don’t know where my family is,” Camilla said, and her voice was so soft that Karic barely heard it, even with his enhanced hearing. “It’s been me and the pride for as long as I can remember.”

             
“Oh. I…I’m sorry,” he replied. And then because it seemed only fair that he offer something in return, he sighed and continued. “I know my family, but we don’t talk. It’s been ages since I’ve seen either of my parents or my older brother.”

             
“Why? Don’t you miss them?”

             
“We never saw eye to eye,” Karic explained. “My dad and brother are both shifters, and they have that whole…we’re better than everyone else because of what we can do mentality and it drives me crazy. I don’t know how many fights we got into because I dated human girls all through high school and college.”

             
Camilla sighed, and Karic went into the living room so that he could see her while they talked. “Yeah,” she said. “Paul, the leader of our pride, he’s like that. He thinks of himself as the king, and everyone is below him. Especially humans. I’ve never understood that way of thinking, though. I mean, yeah, they don’t have any special abilities, and they can’t change their forms, but they go about their lives the same as we do. Most of the time we look just like them. What makes us any better than they are?”

             
Karic’s eyes widened because those were the exact things he had said to his father when he’d walked out, insisting that he couldn’t live the way his father wanted so he would go live on his own. Since then he hadn’t really had the time to talk to many other shifters, and so he felt a lurch in his stomach when he heard Camilla’s words. “That’s…pretty much how I feel about it. If anything humans are better than we are for coping with life without any special powers.”

             
“Yes.” Camilla granted him a small smile. “I can see why you are alone.”

             
“What’s
that
supposed to mean? And how do you know? I could have a pack.” Way to sound like a petulant child there, Karic. He sighed. What was it about this woman that turned him into a babbling idiot?

             
“Nothing bad,” she said quickly, holding her hands up. “Just that you don’t seem like you would get along with other shifters very well. Most of them have the same views as you family from what I’ve seen. And I can tell because you only smell like you. Pack bonding leaves a different scent.”

             
“Well, you only smell like you, too. But you have a pride,” he pointed out.

             
Camilla smiled sadly. “There isn’t really a bond there. Which is why I had to leave.” And then she was abruptly changing the subject. “Is your mother a human?”

             
“She was,” Karic replied. “She was killed when I was really young. My father got on the wrong side of another pack, and… They knew what his weakness was.”

             
“Oh. I’m…so sorry. That’s terrible.”

             
“Yeah, it was. I think…well. She was the only human my dad really respected. And when she was killed, he tried to blame it on her fragile human nature instead of himself for getting mixed up in stuff he shouldn’t have been messing with. I don’t think I’ve ever really forgiven him for that, and it’s just another reason why I don’t want to get mixed up with packs and pack dynamics.”

             
Camilla nodded. “I think you’re smart for that. But…you shouldn’t isolate yourself because none of that was
your
fault.” She laughed bitterly. “I know how it feels to be singled out for special powers and how it feels to want so badly to be normal and to belong at the same time. Being along doesn’t make it any better.”

             
Her words were gentle, but they hit Karic somewhere deep. He had never really bothered to think about how alone he really was, filling his hours with work and sleeping for the most part. He told himself that he spent his time helping people, which was more worthwhile than anything else he could be doing. But sometimes, coming home to an empty, dark house was more depressing than he liked to admit to himself.

             
“I’m fine,” he said softly, tossing her a smile. “Being alone has never really bothered me, and I’m usually too busy to notice anyway.”

             
Before Camilla could reply, the drier buzzed, and Karic was pushing off from where he had been leaning against the wall. “Your clothes are dry. I’m just going to go…get them. So you can change. And yeah.”